2023 Radiothon for Healthcare presented by Pharmasave

The Dr. Noble Irwin Regional Healthcare Foundation Radiothon for Healthcare presented by Pharmasave returns this year on October 26^th & 27^th, 2023, once again broadcasting from the beautiful Elmwood Golf Course clubhouse. This year, we are raising funds for a state of the art, Thulium Fibre Laser System. Procedures with this laser would include blasting kidney stones and dealing with enlarged prostates. There is currently no one available in Saskatchewan to perform the latter procedure.

A Thulium Fibre Laser or ‘TFL’ is the latest medical advancement for treatment of kidney stones and enlarged prostates. When “blasting” stones, this laser dusts stones or reduces the stones down to a fine dust like sand, allowing for a much easier passing. This means of stone destruction helps the disintegrated pieces pass quickly to reduce the size and amount of fragments that could become new stones in the future.

This procedure is more precise and is completed in a significantly shorter period in comparison to the previous method using a holmium laser. According to an article in the European Association of Urology, the thulium fibre laser technology is “superior to our current standard laser in clearing kidney stones and reducing operative complications.” With a decrease in procedure time and length of treatment, the TFL has the potential to decrease wait times and clear up a backlog of patients needing this procedure.

This new technology is also a smaller device, therefore it is easier to move to different procedure rooms and it is much quieter. Increasing the ease of use of medical equipment places less stress on our already taxed healthcare workers.